The Spanish word 'chupito' (meaning 'shot of alcohol') comes from the verb 'chupar' meaning 'to suck', combined with the diminutive suffix '-ito'. The verb 'chupar' itself is formed from an onomatopoeic root 'chup-' (imitating the sound of sucking) plus the standard Spanish verb ending '-ar'. The diminutive '-ito' gives the sense of a small amount, thus a 'chupito' literally means a 'little suck' or small amount to drink, which evolved to specifically refer to a shot of alcohol.

The most common related Spanish word is the verb 'chupar' (to suck), which you might hear in contexts like 'chupar un caramelo' (to suck a candy) or 'chupa-chups' (the name of a popular lollipop brand). Another related word is 'chupón', which means 'pacifier' or 'baby's dummy' - clearly related to the sucking action. The connection between these words and 'chupito' is clear when you think about how you quickly 'suck down' or drink a shot of alcohol.

While there aren't direct English cognates since 'chup-' is a Spanish onomatopoeia, English does have its own sound-symbolic words for sucking sounds, like 'sip', 'slurp', and 'sup'. These developed independently but show how different languages can create similar sound-meaning associations for drinking actions.